The empire of law works only when informal social norms sustain legal compliance.
Evidence
The significance of the rule of law for republican liberty was discussed above; in the classical republican tradition, this was expressed as the “empire of law” ideal-the notion that in a free republic laws, not men, rule. Of course this cannot ever be literally true, but it can be approximated in a sort of artificial way, so that life can be experienced as if it were true within a given community. This requires, however, that the law be widely regarded as clear, predictable, and legitimate, and this in turn is possible only when there is a generally high level of compliance and when legal rules are embedded in a shared network of informal social norms (Pettit 1997; Lovett 2016a). — Frank Lovett, Republicanism, 66
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to the legal realists’ claim that law without social enforcement is empty, and to Pettit’s own account of non-arbitrary power in his contestatory democracy work. — connects to: Law changes norms even when it never produces prosecutions — , The Rod and the Child: A Global History…, 7224; Legal systems rest on customary social rules rather than moral foundations — HLA Hart, The Concept of Law (Clarendon Law…, 56; A functioning legal system can exist where only officials accept its rules. — HLA Hart, The Concept of Law (Clarendon Law…, 350 (+6 more)
- DEEPTHINKING: That the ‘empire of law, not men’ is a fiction that can only be approximated socially — law’s legitimacy resting on informal norms — is a subtle point worth sitting with.
- corroborated: 5 independent passages support this claim — Frank Lovett, Republicanism, 66
Related
- Well-formed law ranks with natural obstacles, not coercive domination (similarity 0.79)
- Law can be non-arbitrary and freedom-preserving rather than inherently dominating (similarity 0.78)
Broader Connections
- Criminal law curbs domination only through cultural backup
#corroborates(0.85) — Philip Pettit, Republicanism, 705 - State coercion works only because most citizens comply voluntarily
#corroborates(0.80) - Legal prohibition without religious-institutional embedding remains only nominal
#corroborates(0.80) — , The Rod and the Child, 8206 - Legal systems rest on customary social rules rather than moral foundations
#corroborates(0.78) — HLA Hart, The Concept of Law (Clarendon Law…, 56 - Legal prohibition plus community normative work shifted behavior even in a non-welfare-state, diverse society
#exemplifies(0.78) — , The Rod and the Child, 7363 - A functioning legal system can exist where only officials accept its rules.
#contradicts(0.75) — HLA Hart, The Concept of Law (Clarendon Law…, 350 - Social norms operate through common-knowledge approval and disapproval rather than enforcement.
#complicates(0.75) — Philip Pettit, Republicanism, 1288 - Law changes norms even when it never produces prosecutions
#qualifies(0.72) — , The Rod and the Child, 7224